I picked up two McDonald's kitchen play set peices for 8.99 for the SET and even though retail its probably not woth a lot it brought hours of entertaiment to my preschoolers and even ended up with us getting a behind the scenes tour of our local McDonalds when I called and asked for donations of containers so so worth it.. Can't wait till my new center starts and my new class can enjoy it.

I walked into a local thrift store today looking for exactly one item: a toy tool set for Babybartfast. She was pretend "fixing" things yesterday and I figured heck, it's worth a shot - they probably cost $20-$30 new, but there's at least a chance I might find it at a thrift store someday.

I FOUND ONE! Cost me $1. For a total of $4.50, I got:

1) the tool set2) two skeins of good-quality yarn of a brand my friend loves - I don't crochet, but she makes me stuff 3) a game I think Babybartfast will love4) a little metal bucket she will also love5)the whole bucket FULL of beaded necklaces I can take apart and restring. Seriously, I'd pay $3-$8 apiece for the beads on those things at a craft store, the thrift store had them for $1 apiece, and the guy saw I had the little bucketful and said he'd charge me $2 for the whole thing (8-9 necklaces)

I bought two Partylite gold swirled votive cups for $3.50. I remember coveting them from the catalog at $25 each. I also scout out Fenton glass and pick up a piece now and then for a few bucks. It's ruffly victorian glass from the east coast. No one in SoCal knows what it is so they just donate it. I lurvs me them thrift stores!

I don't have any priceless stuff stories, but when I was in high school I used to buy most of my clothes from thrift stores. Since it was the early 90's and it was the grunge era this was THE place to buy clothes. I'd buy Levi 501 jeans for $2, and sometimes $1. I found a lot of vintage clothes, from the 70's and sometimes the 60's and it was totally funky. The only thing I wouldn't buy from thrift stores are shoes because they never fit right, although I ALWAYS tried on pairs to see if they were comfortable.

And speaking of Fenton glass--our old next-door neighbor moved out of her house in 2004 after living there since 1961. She and her husband were the original owners. They had a variety businesses and at one time owned a shop that sold fine jewelry and objects. She became a packrat (ok, hoarder) after her husband passed away in the mid 1990's. She moved to be closer to her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. Although her daughter had gone through everything with value, there were still a lot of things in that house. Our neighbor came over and gave my mom a lot of really neat costume jewelry and a HUGE box of Fenton glass objects. Mostly they were vases or flower holders, and there was no complete set of anything, but there were a lot of little knick-knacks. My mom now has all of this Fenton glass stuff laying around the house, decorating little spaces. Much of it is worth hundreds of dollars. My mom likes it, so she has no desire to ebay it or sell it. My sister and I now joke that this is our inheritance.

A couple of days ago I noticed my thrift shop was having a '3 items for 10$' sale so I went in and bought 4 3 piece suits (2 never used) and 5 shirts and pants for 30$. Picked up a Nintendo DS for 10$ too all it was missing was a charger and I know where to get those.

Found some really funky coasters. They look like giant metal puzzle pieces and they fit together all 4 for 2$ and a new 15 slot knife block which I really needed.

I've found opal necklaces and earrings and now I seem to be finding real pearl jewelery. My favourite is my sterling silver pearl teardrop earrings for 1.50$. Also a leather jacket that was barley worn and 6 months old for 9$.

I'm a massive clotheshorse (on a limited grad student budget), so love browsing thrift stores and secondhand places. My best find -- a black silk, corset-back dress, in almost brand-new condition, from one of the "official tailors" to the British royal family!!! Estimated cost, based on their website -- around $2,500 bucks. Total paid -- $4.50. (No, I did not know at the time what it was. Just knew that I loved it.) Best part, they have a coffee table book. The dress on the cover? You guessed it -- my dress! I've only worn it once and intend to preserve it to pass on to any future daughters/granddaughters that might come along.

Thrift store diving is my favorite hobby! I'm a huge Pyrex and Fire King junkie and I've had some great finds. I found several pieces of Fire King Jadite dinnerware last year and made a tidy little profit on ebay.

I also found a Pyrex Chip and Dip set (Golden Scroll Promotional Cinderella 1959) and a set of orange Daisy Cinderella nesting bowls (1964). I have a set of vintage Stetson China Company dinnerware too. They are so fragile I don't even use them.

My most recent treasure was two vintage pedestal milk glass mugs with red roosters on them.

Another Pyrex & Fire King junkie here! I have sooooo many casserole dishes and bowls, but when I find an orphan for 50 cents, I can't help but save it... and heaven help me if it's got snowflakes on it.

I found a thick-walled copper saucepan for $5 at St. Vinnies, it's tinning is worn but still good. I have 5 gallon copper stock pot that I found for $20 at a garage sale. I currently use it to store logs by the fireplace, but I hope to have it retinned eventually. Those things are really expensive to buy new!

I also always check the flatware for sterling pieces. I have a small collection bought for 15-25 cents apiece that will eventually be sold to provide funds for the expansion of my good silverware collection.

Thrift store diving is my favorite hobby! I'm a huge Pyrex and Fire King junkie and I've had some great finds. I found several pieces of Fire King Jadite dinnerware last year and made a tidy little profit on ebay.

I also found a Pyrex Chip and Dip set (Golden Scroll Promotional Cinderella 1959) and a set of orange Daisy Cinderella nesting bowls (1964). I have a set of vintage Stetson China Company dinnerware too. They are so fragile I don't even use them.

My most recent treasure was two vintage pedestal milk glass mugs with red roosters on them.

Another Pyrex & Fire King junkie here! I have sooooo many casserole dishes and bowls, but when I find an orphan for 50 cents, I can't help but save it... and heaven help me if it's got snowflakes on it.

My people! Although I am something of a Pyrex snob (Fire King things are so much thinner, and the patterns never appeal to me as much - which is not to say I don't have some). I can rarely find Pyrex scores here, people are well aware how cool and collectible it is. Usually I find it when I thrift while visiting the ILs in their teeny Texas town. Although, one of my greatest thrift scores was a set of stackable pink flower-pattern Pyrex mixing bowls that I spotted while checking out. They were $8 for the set, and I knew they were worth more than that, so I snapped em up and lo and behold, they're worth about $100. I don't think I'll sell though. I loooooove Pyrex

And those milk glass mugs with roosters? Score!

Recently I discovered the miracle of Half-Price Books. They buy pretty much everything, and have great prices on books. So now I pick up books at the thrift store for $.25-.50, and then sell them to the bookstore for store credit afterwards. I usually get around $1 a book, for newer trade paperbacks and the like.

I'm kind of leaning toward keeping the Lladro figurine. It's not really my kind of style, but it's so pretty, I just love looking at it.

This was back in the 50's.... my grandparents were at a fundraiser auction for the school. No one was bidding on a box of what looked like junk, so my grandfather bought it for $.50 just so it would sell. The box had some lengths of chain, some rags and, at that bottom, all wrapped up in newspaper, a complete tea set. The set turned out to be Fovol Fry Glass and is currently sitting in my closet. I checked the price on an antiques website and it is worth about $900.